


Scorpion

by LindseyTanner



Category: Original Work
Genre: Depression, Gen, OC, Original Fiction, Original work - Freeform, Realistic, Recession, Short Story, Theft, Thief, thieves
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-29
Updated: 2017-11-28
Packaged: 2019-01-25 21:01:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 3,421
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12541124
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LindseyTanner/pseuds/LindseyTanner
Summary: Scorpion Jones is on the street again--this time for stealing from his last job--and with the worst recession in history going on, the street is not the best place to be. But when he stumbles across an envelope full of cash he thinks he's hit the jackpot, until he finds out who the money belongs to...





	1. Scorpion Chapter 1

“You get out of here an’ I never wanna see yer face here again! You hear me? I don’t never wanna see yer face ‘round here again!” With that, the old lady slammed the door shut, and fifteen year old Scorpion Jones found himself on the street for the fourth time in six weeks.  He stood facing the rotted wooden door for a few moments, then headed in the opposite direction, away from the hotel where he had spent the last three days.  He wandered down the dusty road stepping onto the sidewalk when the occasional rickety car passed by.

He turned a corner around an abandoned office building. Thoughts of his previous job ran through his head.  Why had he been fired?

 He knew the answer to that.

He’d worked as a housekeeper for the Lone Star Hotel.  It wasn’t a very nice hotel, more like a shack, really, but they needed an employee and he needed money.  Only a few people visited the place, because of the depression, but those that did usually brought something of value along.  His job was to clean the rooms while the customers were away.  He left most of their belongings alone, but the day before he was fired, he came across a very nice pair of shoes.

He had plenty of experience stealing things; he’d lived off other people’s pocket change for the past year.  He knew that if he was caught with the shoes, he would be fired, and possibly arrested, and the owner of the hotel didn’t trust him anyway, but he couldn’t resist picking them up for a closer look.  Red and black mixed together on them like paint on a canvas. He couldn’t take his eyes off them, and somehow they ended up on his feet.  Once the real owner of the shoes recognized them, he was sacked.

He turned a corner around an office building. A bus was just pulling up to an ancient-looking bus stop.  Scorpion sighed and dug the last few coins he had out of his brown backpack.  He kept all his belongings in the backpack, and kept it with him at all times except on the few occasions he was working.  The driver accepted his money and left the bus stop. Scorpion took a seat in the second row and stared out the window.  He hoped that, wherever he was headed, it would be a better place than the one he was leaving.

 

~~~~~

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	2. Scorpion Chapter 2

Passerine Whitman sat on the floor of her apartment next to her two year old son, and read the newspaper aloud.

“Stock market crashing again, economic turmoil, banks closed, the last ten schools in the state are preparing to close… Nothing new.” She tossed the paper aside. Ollie stared up at her with his big, round eyes. She ran her hand through his dark hair. “You don’t have to worry about things like this, do you?” Ollie giggled and threw his bright red toy truck across the room.

It landed on the far side of the room. “I’ll get it.” Passerine said, smiling. As she bent down to pick it up, the doorbell rang. Ollie pointed at the door and looked at his mother with a worried expression.

“I’ll get the door, too,” said Passerine. No one ever came over except the landlord, and even that was rare. She opened the door to find her cousin standing outside on the sidewalk holding a small package wrapped in brown paper. Immediately, the much older woman began talking.

“Good evening, darling, now let me in out of this cold; you know how easily I get sick nowadays! I was in town and I decided to stop by, you know how I adore visiting you! I have a surprise for the little one. Where is he? It’s been so long since I’ve seen him… There he is!”

She shoved Passerine out of the way. Her large frame loomed over Ollie, who whimpered at the sight of the woman. She swooped down and picked him up, causing him to hold on tightly to her expensive polyester coat. “Just how I remember him!” the woman screeched. “He has his eyes, you know. And that nose! Why, look: It’s the spitting image of dear—,”

“Don’t say his name!” Passerine had picked herself up off the floor and stood glaring holes into her cousin. “It’s bad enough he had to leave me, but he waited until the day before Ollie was born.” Her cousin stared at her, dumbfounded. Passerine sighed. “I just worry that one day we may run out of money or food. It’s a miracle the landlord’s let us stay this long, and you know I can’t keep Ollie and hold down a job at the same time! Babysitters are expensive, and—,”

“Which is exactly why I’m here,” her cousin interrupted. “Now, I can only stay for a few more minutes, I have a meeting I simply must attend, but you will find everything you need in here.” She thrust the package at Passerine.

“But, I--”

“No need to repay me, dear, just make sure you give Ollie his gift. Oh and, if you ever need anything, you know I’m just a phone call away!” She slammed the door in Passerine’s face.

“Thanks,” she muttered. Ollie looked at her, bewildered. “She’s a strange one, I’ll admit, but she’s the only one in our family with any money.” The red truck lay forlornly next to the sofa. Passerine picked it up and gave it to her son. Turning, she added, “She’s the only one anywhere with money.”

~~~~~

Like what you see? Stay updated on all my stories here, and on BooksByLindsey.wordpress.com!


	3. Scorpion Chapter 3

Scorpion stepped off the bus into a small circle of apartments. They were nice-looking apartments, with a tiny front lawn and a few trees scattered here and there. About eight mailboxes lined the street. Scorpion read the address on one of them. 2454. He examined the building. 2454 was light brown, the second one from the left. A garden was growing under a window, a good spot, Scorpion knew, to hide until he could figure out what to do next. He crawled behind a bush and set his backpack in front of him. He leaned back to do some thinking, but he was just so tired. Tired of traveling. Tired of losing jobs. Tired of not knowing where to go. 

When he opened his eyes, the sun was just beginning to sink behind the treetops. He sighed, curled up on the ground, and put his backpack under his head to go back to sleep. He would think about things in the morning, but for the moment, it was not the first time he had spent the night outside.

 

~~~~~

_Like what you see? Stay updated on all my stories here, and on BooksByLindsey.wordpress.com!_


	4. Scorpion Chapter 4

Ollie woke up screaming.  Passerine crossed the room, picked him up, cradled him in her arms, and rocked him gently until he stopped crying.  The new blanket her cousin had given Ollie was lying in the crib in a heap. Passerine glanced at the clock above the crib.  It was four in the morning.  She sighed, rubbed her eyes, and placed Ollie back in the crib beside the blanket.  Her plan was to go to the grocery store that afternoon, but now that they were both awake, she decided to go that morning. 

Scorpion woke up to the sound of a baby crying.  He realized it came from the house he had spent the night in front of.  He heard someone’s footsteps in the house, and the baby’s cries diminished.  About two hours later, he heard the front door slam shut.  A young lady and a little boy walked past him down the street and disappeared around the corner.  Scorpion slowly counted to twenty and scanned the area.  No one was in sight.  The curtains on the windows of all the houses were closed.  No one saw him slip silently up to the front door and slide two bent paperclips into the lock. He held pressure on one paperclip while pushing the pins inside the lock down with the other. The lock clicked. Scorpion opened the door, glanced around once more, and went inside.

_~~~~~_

_Like what you see? Stay updated on all my stories here, and on BooksByLindsey.wordpress.com!_


	5. Scorpion Chapter 5

He entered a small room, with hardly any furniture: just a couch, a chair, and a portable television, but they were arranged nicely. There were two doors on the other side of the room, and he opened the door on the left.  Against the wall was a crib with a colorful striped blanket in it, and beside it were a larger bed and an almost-empty closet. He exited that room and opened the other door.  A counter ran along the length of the wall, with microwave in one corner, and a refrigerator in the other. There was an oven and a sink in the middle.  A wooden table stood on the other side of the room, surrounded by a regular chair and a high chair.  On the table was a package wrapped in brown paper.  He knew he shouldn’t, but his curiosity got the better of him, and he looked inside it.  It was full of money.

He opened a few more cabinets and drawers in search of supplies and food.  The owners of the house really didn’t have much.  He found a box of protein bars and a bottle of water, which he dropped into his backpack.  He decided to leave then, and went back into the living room.

He reached his hand toward the doorknob, but before he could lay a finger on it, it turned.  

 

~~~~~

Like what you see? Stay updated on my stories here, and on booksbylindsey.wordpress.com!


	6. Scorpion Chapter 6

He heard footsteps that grew softer, and he wondered who she had spoken to. He didn’t have to wonder for long. A little boy, probably two, two and a half, poked his head around the side of the couch and stared at Scorpion with his big, brown eyes. Scorpion stared back, willing him not to start crying and make the lady come back. If he could just wait until they went into another room... 

Of course the kid had to get closer; he was probably curious about this weirdo stranger in his house hiding behind furniture. The kid stretched out a finger toward Scorpion’s face, and Scorpion pushed his away. That did not deter the kid in the least: he toddled over and crawled into Scorpion’s lap. Scorpion tried to move the kid, but the kid had a death-grip on his shirt and wouldn’t budge, and he was afraid the kid would start crying if he could ever get him to let go.

“Ollie? Where did you go?” The lady’s voice came from the doorway. Scorpion froze. The boy giggled and put his chubby hands over his mouth.

The lady looked behind the couch and screamed.  Scorpion dumped Ollie on the floor, jumped up, and shot towards the door, with the lady shrieking after him.  He ran as fast as he could out of the house, down the road, and out of sight.

~~~~~

_Like what you see? Stay updated on my stories here, and on BooksByLindsey.wordpress.com!_


	7. Scorpion Chapter 7

Scorpion stopped in the middle of the road.  There were no cars anywhere around him.  Trees lined the road.  There were no houses, no movement; even the wind ceased to blow.  Three years had past since he escaped an abusive home and what had he been doing?  He’d still been running.  He had promised himself he would do something with his life.  That poor lady and her kid— Scorpion could not take his mind off them.

The wind picked up a little.  He would not run away any longer.  Maybe the lady hadn’t called the cops.  He could get a job in the town, and, eventually, an apartment.  He turned around. If he ever saw that lady again, he would apologize, and beg for forgiveness.

All the money was there.  Passerine couldn’t believe it.  This person just broke into her house and left five hundred dollars lying on her kitchen table.  The envelope was open, and some of the money was spilled on the table, but all of it was still there.   She nearly started sobbing again.  It was her fault she was careless enough to leave the money there, but by some miraculous stroke of fate, the thief left it behind.  She had considered calling the police, but decided against it.  He was gone, and she hardly knew what he looked like anyway.  She felt Ollie tug on her pants leg.

“Mama?” he asked.  She picked him up, placed him on her lap, and hugged him tight.

“That’s right, Ollie,” she murmured.  “Everything will be okay.”


	8. Scorpion Chapter 8

"We're in the middle of the biggest economic downturn in history! You really think we have the money to hire you?" The man slammed the door of the bakery shut before Scorpion could answer. Unperturbed, he went to the grocery store next to the bakery and rang the doorbell.

He had been going to every store, shop, and business place in the tiny town for the last three hours, looking for a job. It was proving to be harder than he'd thought. He'd wondered how the lady had gotten back to her house so quickly, but now he knew: all the shops were literally right around the corner from her house.

"Just a minute!" said a voice from inside the grocery store. The door opened and a tall man stepped out. He was dressed impeccably: every button on his dark blue shirt gleamed, and there wasn't a single wrinkle on his khaki pants held up by brown suspenders. 

 Scorpion felt very much out of place. He nervously smoothed his hair back with his hand and said, "Are you interested in hiring anyone?"

"Depends. What can you do?" asked the old man.

"Whatever you want me to do, sir."

"How about selling canned goods and produce?"

"I can do that."

"Excellent." The old man's eyes twinkled. "You're hired. Come inside." Scorpion breathed a sigh of relief before following the man, and he shut the door behind him.


	9. Scorpion Chapter 9

“Passerine, have you heard the latest gossip in town? There’s a newcomer around here!”

“Really?”  Passerine was attempting to keep the phone pressed against her ear while her son was in the middle of one of his rare but violent temper tantrums.

“Yes!” said her cousin. “I heard all about it from my friend Violet today.”

“I’m sure that’s very interesting,” answered Passerine as Ollie stuck his tongue out at her.  She did the same back to him.

“Well, the grocery store hired a kid from out of town!  Isn’t that fantastic?  I think Violet said his name was Scorpion.  Or it could’ve been Spider.  Some kind of bug…” her voice trailed off.

“That’s great, Angeline,” Passerine said.  She covered the microphone with her hand. “You are not getting any ice cream,” she hissed at Ollie, “and that’s that.”  He growled at her.

“You simply must visit the store! I’m sure he would be delighted to meet you and Ollie!”

“Yes, I’ll make sure I do that.  Listen, I really need to go…”

“Well, I will talk to you later, then.  Farewell darling!”

“Yeah, bye.”  She hung up the phone and eyed Ollie, who was throwing all his toys across the room.  “You are in big trouble, mister.”

 

Scorpion really felt like he had turned his life around.  Working in the store with the old man made him feel that he was contributing to society, and, after a long talk with the man, he was allowed to live in the very back of the store.  Whenever he saw the lady and her kid, he ducked out of sight behind the nearest tree or dumpster.  It worked for a time- nearly a week, in fact- until one day they came inside the store.


	10. Scorpion Chapter 10

The little bell attached to the door rang softly as Passerine came in, followed by Ollie.  Scorpion glanced up from his notebook and promptly dove behind the front counter.  The old man came out from the back of the store and smiled at Passerine.

“Good morning, Passerine! What brings you here?”

“Good morning.  I’ve heard you hired a new employee.”

“Oh, yes! I’ll go get him. He’s probably in the back, reading.” He started towards the back of the store, but when he passed the counter, Scorpion tapped on his leg.  Startled, the man looked down and saw Scorpion mouthing the words “I’m not here” and motioning wildly with his hands. He turned back around.

“I just remembered: I sent him on an errand. He should be back shortly.  Would you like to wait for him here?”

“No, thank you.  I’ve got to get home and start cooking lunch.”  She picked up Ollie before he could knock over a potato chip display just within his reach.  “I’ll just shop now and come back to see him tomorrow.”

The man waited until she left before he rounded on Scorpion.  “All right, boy, explain yourself.  Why couldn’t you speak to this woman?  She’s a very nice lady with a two year old boy.  You have nothing to be afraid of.”

“Yes I do,” whispered Scorpion.  “If she ever recognizes me…”

“Recognizes you?  Does she know you?”

“I hope not.”  The old man sighed and sat on the floor next to Scorpion.  He leaned back against the counter.

“You’re not the only one that has made some bad decisions, you know.  Now, are you going to tell me what happened, or am I going to have to keep asking questions?”

“Will you call the police?”

The man stared at Scorpion with his eyes narrowed and his brow furrowed. “No,” he finally said. “No, I won’t call them.”


	11. Scorpion Chapter 11

Passerine was in the middle of eating lunch when she heard her doorbell ring.  She dropped her sandwich on her plate and rose from the table.  Ollie was seated in his high chair, eating dry cereal.  “I’ll be right back,” she told him.

 She wiped the few remaining crumbs from her mouth and opened the door.  Scorpion was standing there, his arm held in the firm grip of the old man.  “Hello,” he said weakly.  She took a few steps back and nearly screamed.  This was the thief!

“It’s okay, Passerine, he’s just come to apologize, right Scorpion?”  The man shook him a little.

“Yes, sir.  I’m sorry, ma’am.  It was wrong of me to break in your house and I apologize.”  He looked at his feet as he said it, but he hoped he sounded sincere.  He meant every word of it.

Passerine was at a loss for words.  She wanted to scream at him, make him feel as helpless as she had felt when she thought all of the money was gone, but what came out was, “Why didn’t you take it?”

“Ma’am?”

“The money.  On the table.  Why didn’t you take it?” 

Scorpion looked her in the eyes.  He saw fear and confusion written there.  “I figured you needed it more than I did.”

There was a long silence.  Passerine felt tears spring to her eyes.  She took a few tentative steps forward and embraced Scorpion.  “I forgive you.”


	12. Scorpion Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Scorpion Jones is on the street again--this time for stealing from his last job--and with the worst recession in history going on, the street is not the best place to be. But when he stumbles across an envelope full of cash, he thinks he's hit the jackpot, until he finds out who the money belongs to...

It was years after the old man’s retirement, and Scorpion glanced at the checkout counter of the grocery store. A nameplate reading  _Scorpion Jones, Owner_ , rested proudly on top of it. He smiled and thought of the apartment he had rented near Passerine and her son. The old man had hired Passerine, and after his retirement, had put Scorpion in charge of the whole store.

The economy was picking back up, and so was business at the store. His life had changed so much in the past few years, it felt like a whirlwind. He knew he had hit rock bottom back then, but he also knew something else: that the only place left to go was up.

~~~~~

 _Next up: Clara and her band of treasure hunters might have found the biggest pile of cash east of the Mississippi, but they have to dig up the right grave first, and this one just might be haunted by the ghost of a criminal, in_ Augustus _._

_Like what you see? Stay updated on all my new stories here, and on booksbylindsey.wordpress.com!_

 


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